Inductive excursion sensing for audio transducers

ABSTRACT

Techniques, methods, systems, and other mechanisms for measuring the excursion of a speaker while being actively driven. Measuring excursion can involve attaching a flexible printed coil (FPC), including a sense coil, to the speaker, and monitoring an induced current as produced though the sense coil, and further detecting that violation of an excursion limit for the speaker may likely occur.

BACKGROUND

Many electronic devices are capable of presenting multimedia content byincluding speakers which provide tonal, voice-generated, or recordedoutput. Some speakers are designed to have a smaller physical size forsimple integration into various electronic devices having a range ofdifferent sizes (e.g., mobile phones, smart home devices). Generally,speakers are associated with a limited distance that the membrane of thespeaker can freely move before coming into contact with a barrier (e.g.,top plate, yoke). In some cases, such as driving the speaker toreproduce lower frequency sound (e.g., less than resonate frequency ofthe transducer), a vibrating membrane may experience movement thatreaches the threshold of this limited distance (also referred to asexcursion or excursion range). A speaker that is being driven past thisexcursion constraint may produce a degraded quality of audio output(e.g., rubbing and buzzing associated with collision of the membrane).Additionally, physical damage to the speaker itself can be caused due toexceeding the excursion range, or other related factors. Small speakers,such as microspeakers, have a more restricted excursion range (inrelation to larger sized speakers), as a result of limited size, and maybe more susceptible to the effects of operating beyond the excursionlimits.

SUMMARY

This document describes techniques, methods, systems, and othermechanisms for measuring the excursion of a speaker while being activelydriven. Measuring excursion can involve attaching a flexible printedcoil (FPC), including a sense coil, to the speaker, and monitoring aninduced current as produced though the sense coil, and further detectingthat a violation of an excursion limit for the speaker may likely occur.

Particular implementations of the disclosed technology can, in certaininstances, realize one or more of the following advantages. Thetechnology described in this disclosure involves employing an excursionmeasuring component which, through induction, produces an electricalsignal that is monitored to determine an active excursion distancerelated to the speaker while actuating. Thus, the technology enables anelectronic device to dynamically detect that a speaker is operating at alevel that is causing an atypical excursion of the voice coil, forexample, that may result in an unintended impact (e.g., degrading audioquality or damaging the speaker). This approach can achieve improvedaccuracy in comparison to techniques that involve estimating and/ormodeling for the excursion distance. For instance, some techniques whichmeasures various non-linear parameters (e.g., voltage across thespeaker, current through the voice coil) of the speaker to approximateexcursion may be less accurate as the speaker oscillates farther fromits initial resting position and the behavior of the parameters, inturn, become more non-linear. Moreover, configuring a speaker to includean excursion measuring component, which can be implemented as a sensecoil printed onto a flexible printed circuit, can eliminate the need toadd more complex mechanical or processing components to the electronicdevice intended to perform excursion detection/compensation functions.As such, the disclosed techniques can involve various advantages, suchas a reduction in size and/or a reduction in cost of the electronicdevice in comparison to alternative mechanisms.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description anddrawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG.1 is a diagram of an electronic device that includes componentsconfigured to measure excursion that may be experienced by a speaker atlow frequency levels.

FIGS. 2A-2B are schematic diagrams of a speaker including an excursionmeasuring component that may implement the disclosed technology.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a system configured to measure anactive excursion distance for an element (e.g., voice coil) of aspeaker.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method for measuring an activeexcursion distance of an element of a speaker during actuation.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an electronic device 100, e.g., a mobile phone asdepicted, that includes a speaker 102 and a system 120 for measuring anexcursion of one or more components of speaker 102, e.g., at lowfrequency levels. During operation, electronic device 100 uses speaker102 to generate audible sound for a user. Such sound may include soundfrom voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voicemessages, music files, etc.) and may also include sound generated byapplications operating on electronic device 100.

Speaker 102 includes an electroacoustic transducer, which converts anelectrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. Although FIG. 1shows speaker 102 as internal component of electronic device 100, itshould be appreciated that speaker 102 can also be implemented as anexternal and/or independent device. For instance, speaker 102 can be astand-alone micro-speaker that communicates with electronic device 100using a wireless technology standard, such as Bluetooth, to output audiogenerated from the electronic device 100. For purposes of discussion,speaker 102 and the excursion measurement techniques are discussed inreference to micro-speakers. However is should be appreciated that thetechniques are applicable to larger scale transducers, such as homespeakers, automotive speakers, and the like.

As shown, speaker 102 has membrane 125 located over at least onesurface. Membrane 125 can be a thin sheet of a semi-rigid material thattransmits sound while serving as a barrier to prevent liquids, such aswater, from entering into the speaker 102 and potentially damaging itselectrical components. FIG. 1 also illustrates an example of excursionassociated with the speaker 102 and a physical position of membrane 125.In the example, the excursion limit is shown as the distance of spacingbetween the membrane 125 and a surface of the electronic device 100 thatmay serve as a front plate, or partial covering for speaker 102. In somecases, this distance is approximately measured in millimeters, such as0.5 mm. Accordingly, outward movement of the membrane 125 is physicallyprevented from displacement beyond that front surface and, in this case,the excursion limit is a physical constraint defined by the mechanicalconfiguration of the speaker 102. That is, the membrane 125 is preventedfrom reaching the full range of its motion in one direction, due toplacement. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the membrane 125 may also beassociated with an excursion limit in the opposite direction, related tomoving inwards towards other elements of the speaker 102. As a result,the excursion measuring system 120 is configured to measure positiveexcursion (e.g., +x-axis direction), negative excursion (e.g., −x-axisdirection), or both. In some embodiments, the techniques considerexcursion from an initial resting position, also referred to as DClevel, or the zero position of the transducer.

In some cases, the speaker 102 may be driven under various low frequencyand high pressure conditions that can cause the membrane 125 tooscillate farther, having greater displacement, and potentiallycontacting the surface of the electronic device 100. In the case of highpressure, the pressure level output can be directly related to theamount of air volume displacement. Higher pressure, may displace themembrane 125, for example, pushing the membrane 125 outward due to thepressure inside of the speaker 102 being greater than the pressureoutside of the device.

As some background regarding speaker operation, a membrane 125 ordiaphragm of a speaker 102 oscillates to produce sound waves in the airand therefore to make noise. It does so by oscillating back and forthpast a determinable center location, which may be the same as thelocation at which the membrane 125 is at rest when no electrical signalis being provided to the speaker 102 (and when the pressure on bothsides of the membrane are equal). In the case of lower frequencies, asillustrated in FIG. 1, the speaker 102 can output the audio signals 106associated with a low frequency. As such, when an oscillating electricalsignal at a lower frequency is applied to the speaker 102, the speakermembrane 125 may experience larger oscillations. The membrane 125 can bepushed farther outwards due to displacing larger volumes of air in orderto produce audio signals 106 having the lower audible tones (e.g.,bass). In other words, a signal at a higher frequency that would nottypically cause a speaker 102 to reach the limits of its movement in anygiven direction, may hit such a limit due to the speaker membrane 125being pushed in the direction due to air displace across the speakermembrane 125. As a result, the membrane 125 can begin to hit the limitsof its ability to extrude in that direction as an audio output is beingplayed. This contact between the membrane 125 and the top surface canresult in audible distortion of the audio output 106 to the user, suchas a buzz that can be heard while playing bass.

In order to remedy the degradation of the audio signal 106 that mayresult from excursion related factors, speaker 102 includes excursionmeasuring system 120. This system 120 can include electronics configuredto determine an active excursion distance of an element while thespeaker 102 is actuated, and to subsequently detect whether continuingto drive the speaker 102 may violate any known excursion limitconstraints. In reference to FIG. 1, the measured excursion distance canbe the current position of the membrane 125 in relation to movementwithin the free space for the excursion limit. For instance, theexcursion measuring system 120 can measure that the membrane 125 islocated at a 0.4 mm distance, within a 0.5 mm excursion space (e.g., 0.1mm distance from the top surface). Then, based on the measurement, theexcursion measuring system 120 can further detect that the speaker 102has reached or exceeded a threshold corresponding to acceptableexcursion distances (e.g., no audible distortion or device damage).Optionally, in some embodiments, the excursion measuring system 120 canalso perform actions allowing the speaker 102 to compensate for any suchdisplacement (e.g., reduce gain, activate compressor).

As a general description, the excursion measuring system 120 includes anexcursion measuring component that is implemented as a sense coil. Thesystem 120 monitors an electrical signal produced by a magnetic fieldthat is inductively coupled to the sense coil in order to measure anexcursion distance. The excursion measuring techniques and system arediscussed in greater detail in reference to FIGS. 2A-2B.

FIGS. 2A-2B are schematic diagrams of a speaker 200 including anexcursion measuring component that may implement the disclosedtechnology. Speakers 200, or audio transducer may be used to implementthe disclosed technology. As some background regarding operation ofspeakers, the speaker 200 can be configured to convert electrical energyinto acoustic energy. Many variations of transducers exist, including amoving coil-permanent magnet transducer, which is illustrated in FIGS.2A-2B. The speaker 200 includes a membrane 205, an excursion measuringcomponent 210, a magnetic system 215, and a diaphragm 220. Also, inFIGS. 2A-2B, the excursion measuring component 210 is shown as a sensecoil printed onto a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and attached to theframe of the of the speaker. In FIG. 2A, the speaker 200 is configuredwith the excursion measurement component 210 on top of the driver. FIG.2B shows an alternative configuration for speaker 200, which includesthe excursion measurement component 210 on the bottom of driver. Whethera system is designed to implement the configuration in FIG. 2B or inFIG. 2B, can be based, at least in part, on the various physical and/orfunctional aspects of the speaker 200 (e.g., relating to themanufactured product).

In reference to the configuration shown in FIG. 2A, the excursion rangecan be generally described as the space between the magnetic system 215and the bottom of the diaphragm 220. Accordingly, the excursionmeasuring component 210 is placed on top of the diaphragm 220. Thisdesign may provide improved accuracy in tracking displacement upwards(+y-axis direction).

In referring to FIG. 2B, the excursion measuring component 220 ispositioned on the back of the magnetic system 215. This configurationmay have functional constraints, due to placing the sensing coil on thebottom of the magnetic elements of speaker 200. In some cases, a DCmagnetic field may interfere with the measurements. In other cases, abottom metal plate can shield the magnetic field generated by a voicecoil of the speaker 200, which, in turn, may negatively impact theinductive coupling to the sense coil. A system using the configurationof FIG. 2B can be designed to account for these and other constraints.The system can be calibrated to subtract a DC component from theelectrical signal. For example, a high pass filter can be placed nearthe ADC path to subtract out the DC component. Additionally, a referencesignal can be amplified to compensate for the any experienced shielding.

The speaker 200 includes a voice coil, which can be constructed using athin wire that is suspended within a magnetic field generated by amagnet. Additionally, the voice coil can be used to function as anelectromagnet, as the speaker 200 includes a soft metal core made into amagnet by the passage of electrical current through the voice coilsurrounding it, thus creating an electro-magnetic field. The voice coilis configured to move, or rotate, within the magnetic field.

As speaker 200 is actuated, the speaker 200 oscillates and causes thevoice coil to also become displaced from the movement. As an example,when an analog signal, which can be an input voltage signal, passesthrough the coil of the speaker 200, an electro-magnetic field isproduced and whose signal strength is determined by the current flowingthrough coil. The electro-magnetic force produced by the field opposesthe main permanent magnetic field around it and tries to push/pull thecoil in one direction or the other depending upon the interaction withthe magnet.

The coil is attached to the diaphragm 220, which also moves in tandem,and its movement can cause a disturbance in the air around it, thusproducing a sound. In the instances where the input signal is a sinewave, then the diaphragm will pulsate (e.g., in and out) which pushesair as it moves, and generates an audible tone, representing thefrequency of the signal. The strength, and therefore the velocity, bywhich the diaphragm 220 moves and pushes the surrounding may bedetermined at least in part based on the input signal 204 applied to theelectromagnet 206.

Being that the voice coil is made of inductive material (e.g., metalwiring), the coil can have inductance and impedance characteristics.Moreover, the magnetic field from the voice coil, which is closeproximity with the sense coil can also induce current flow in the sensecoil. In instances when the voice coil moves closer to the sense coil,the induced current flow increases, thereby increasing the amplitude ofthe current signal. In contrast, when the voice coil moves to distancesfarther from the sense coil, the amplitude of the inducted current flowdecreases. Thus, the system monitors the amplitude of the inducedcurrent signal, to measure excursion. As an example, the induced currentsignal can be represented by an oscillating (e.g., sinusoidal) signalhaving a peak-to-peak amplitude. The system can actively monitor changesin the signal's amplitude while the speaker is driven. Then, anymonitored fluctuations in amplitude, such as increases or decreases, canbe correlated to a physical distance between the voice coil and thesense coil. Consequently, the system can use a known position of thesense coil to determine a physical position of the voice coil, which isindicative of the excursion distance. Accordingly, the excursionmeasurement component 210 realizes a solution that provides an actualmeasurement, rather than an estimation of sensing the excursion of thevoice coil, which can improve overall accuracy of the system. In somecases, excursion of other elements of the speaker 200 can be measuredusing the disclosed techniques, such as diaphragm 220 and membrane 205.

In some embodiments, various calibration techniques can be used todetermine a correlation between signal measurements, and activeexcursion distance measurements. As an example, a calibrating laser isemployed to obtain feedback from sense coils during measurementsperformed on a sample set (e.g., 32 samples). Thus, a directcorrelation, or one-to-one relationship, from calibration can be storedin the system to implement the disclosed excursion measurementtechniques. In continuing with the example, calibrating can determinethat receiving a 1.0 V peak voltage in feedback from the sense coil,correlates to 0.5 mm. Calibration can be performed at the module levelto account for assembly and static distance variation from the inductioncoil to the voice coil. Calibration may need to also be done on thesystem level to account for ADC variation, which can depend, at least inpart, on a required resolution.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a system configured to measure anactive excursion distance for an element (e.g., voice coil) of a speaker300. As shown, the speaker 300 can receive, as input, an electricalsignal that has been output from amplifier 310. Additionally, FIG. 3shows the excursion sensing component 305, which generates an electricalsignal in response to inductive coupling. The electrical signal can bean induced current signal propagating through the sense coil, which isthen received the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 310 as input.Subsequently, the induced current signal is analyzed by the system inorder to monitor its amplitude. Also, a direct current (DC) component ofthe electrical signal can be tracked, for example by applying a low passwhich averages the electrical signal over tome to detect the DCvariation. In some cases, any amplitude variation that may be generatedis not considered as the DC component is tracked. DC can be used todetermine an absolute resting position for the speaker and thecomponents. For instance, the speaker can be considered at rest when noelectrical signal is being provided to the speaker 300.

Moreover, the system is configured to apply an electrical signal at ahigh frequency (e.g., 21-22 kHz) to an incoming electrical audio signal.Combining the signals can be achieved, as a playback sampling rate canbe 48 kHz or higher and the Nyquist frequency can be 24 kHz or higher,for instance at a 16 bit or 24 bit depth. Additionally, the ADC can beclocked at high oversampling to obtain a higher fidelity capture of thecoil position. A reference electrical signal is generated as a result ofcombining the high frequency and audio signal. In instances where thespeaker 300 has a small size, for instance in the case ofmicro-speakers, inductance of the coils is low (e.g., signal with smallpeak-to-peak amplitude). Employing a reference signal serves to counterdrawbacks associated with analyzing a small induced current, and canimprove the accuracy of the system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method for measuring an activeexcursion distance of an element of a speaker during actuation. Thesystem and techniques described herein may calculate a real-timemeasurement of the position (and similarly excursion) of the componentsof a speaker that can be related to an excursion range, including avoice coil, a diaphragm, a magnet, and a membrane. The positionmeasurement is based on electrical parameters monitored while thespeaker is reproducing audio, namely monitoring an amplitude of theinduced current signal of the sense coil.

The process beings at block 405, where the system applies a highfrequency signal to an incoming audio signal. The incoming audio signalcan be audio content, such as music, to be reproduced by the speaker.Mixing the incoming audio signal with the high frequency signal resultsin a reference signal that is further analyzed by the system.

Next, at block 410, the system monitors an electrical signal produced byinducing the excursion measuring component. As disclosed, the system isconfigured to generate an induced current flow in the sense coil.Subsequently, the system monitors the amplitude of the induced currentflow.

Then, at block 415, an active excursion distance, relating todisplacement of the voice coil for example, is determined. The systemcan determine the active excursion distance of the voice coil using theamplitude of the induced current signal (obtained from monitoring), anda predetermined correlation between physical position and amplitude(previously stored in the system). Next, the system performs a check atblock 420. The check determines whether the active excursion distance isgreater than a threshold, and can potentially violate any excursionconstraints set by the system. For example, the system can compare ameasured active excursion distance for the voice coil to a predeterminedthreshold associated with acceptable excursion. For instance, thresholdscan be predetermined distances relating to an excursion range (e.g.,±0.5 mm) where the voice coil, for example, has been observed to movefreely (avoiding any unintended contact with other elements/barriers).In cases where the system determines that the voice coil has moved to adistance that reaches or exceeds the threshold (i.e., Yes), the processproceeds to block 430 and performs one or more actions to compensate forthe potentially adverse excursion distance.

Alternatively, in cases where the system determines that the voice coilhas moved to a distance that is below the threshold (i.e., No), thesystem can continue to function nominally. In FIG. 4, this is shown asblock 425, where the audio signal is output without performing anycompensatory actions or signal modifications. FIG. 4 illustratesexcursion measuring as an iterative process that repeats measuring theinduced current signal at various time intervals (while driving thespeaker), so as to achieve continuous and/or real-time excursingsensing.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here canbe realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry,specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits),computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.These various implementations can include implementation in one or morecomputer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processor, whichmay be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storagesystem, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium”“computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product,apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory,Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructionsand/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readablemedium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniquesdescribed here can be implemented on a computer having a display device(e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor)for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointingdevice (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provideinput to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide forinteraction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

Further to the descriptions above, a user may be provided with controlsallowing the user to make an election as to both if and when systems,programs or features described herein may enable collection of userinformation (e.g., information about a user's social network, socialactions or activities, profession, a user's preferences, or a user'scurrent location), and if the user is sent content or communicationsfrom a server. In addition, certain data may be treated in one or moreways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiableinformation is removed. For example, a user's identity may be treated sothat no personally identifiable information can be determined for theuser, or a user's geographic location may be generalized where locationinformation is obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level),so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, theuser may have control over what information is collected about the user,how that information is used, and what information is provided to theuser.

Although a few implementations have been described in detail above,other modifications are possible. Moreover, other mechanisms forperforming the systems and methods described in this document may beused. In addition, the logic flows depicted in the figures do notrequire the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achievedesirable results. Other steps may be provided, or steps may beeliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be addedto, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: an audio transducerconfigured to produce one or more electrical signals associated withreproducing an incoming audio signal, the audio transducer comprising: amagnet; a diaphragm; an excursion measuring component coupled to asurface of the diaphragm and having a first physical location within theaudio transducer, wherein the excursion measuring component includes asense coil; and a voice coil coupled to the magnet and having a secondphysical location within the audio transducer and with respect to thefirst physical location of the excursion measuring component, whereinthe voice coil is configured to generate an induced current signalthrough the sense coil that modifies the one or more electrical signals;and a signal analysis device that is configured to perform operationswhile driving the transducer to produce the one or more electricalsignals, wherein the operations comprise: analyzing the one or moresignals from the audio transducer for monitoring an electrical parameterof the induced current signal; measuring, based on the monitoredelectrical parameter, an excursion distance of the voice coil, whereinthe excursion distance is associated with a distance between the secondphysical location of the voice coil and contacting a surface of thediaphragm; and determining, based on the measured excursion distance,whether the measured excursion distance exceeds a threshold; andperforming an action to compensate for driving the audio transducer togenerate the measured excursion distance.
 2. A system comprising: anaudio transducer configured to produce one or more electrical signalsassociated with reproducing an incoming audio signal, the audiotransducer comprising: a magnet, wherein the magnet is coupled to ametal enclosure; an excursion measuring component coupled to a bottomsurface of a the metal enclosure and having a first physical locationwithin the audio transducer, wherein the excursion measuring componentincludes a sense coil; and a voice coil coupled to the magnet and havinga second physical location within the audio transducer and with respectto the first physical location of the excursion measuring component,wherein the voice coil is configured to generate an induced currentsignal through the sense coil that modifies the one or more electricalsignals; and a signal analysis device that is configured to performoperations while driving the transducer to produce the one or moreelectrical signals, wherein the operations comprise: analyzing the oneor more signals from the audio transducer for monitoring an electricalparameter of the induced current signal; measuring, based on themonitored electrical parameter, an excursion distance of the voice coil,wherein the excursion distance is associated with a distance between thesecond physical location of the voice coil and contacting a surface ofthe metal enclosure; and determining, based on the measured excursiondistance, whether the measured excursion distance exceeds a threshold;and performing an action to compensate for driving the audio transducerto generate the measured excursion distance.
 3. A method, comprising:applying a high frequency signal to an audio signal received by an audiotransducer to produce one or more electrical signals, where the one ormore electrical signals are modified by an inductive current signalproduced by an excursion measuring component; monitoring an amplitude ofthe inductive current signal, wherein monitoring is performed byanalyzing the one or more electrical signals from the transducer; anddetermining, based on the monitored amplitude, whether an activeexcursion distance associated with an element of the audio transducerhas increased or decreased; and upon determining that the activeexcursion distance has increased, determining whether the activeexcursion distance exceeds a threshold associated with an acceptableexcursion range for the audio transducer; and performing an action tocompensate for driving the audio transducer to generate the activeexcursion distance.
 4. An audio transducer for producing one or moreelectrical signals associated with reproducing an incoming audio signal,comprising: a magnet; a diaphragm; a flexible printed circuit (FPC)coupled to a top surface of the diaphragm and having a first physicallocation within the audio transducer, wherein the FPC includes a sensecoil; and a voice coil coupled to the magnet and having a secondphysical location within the audio transducer and with respect to thefirst physical location of the FPC, wherein the voice coil is configuredto generate an induced current signal through the FPC, and wherein theinduced current has an amplitude usable to determine a distance betweenthe first physical location of the FPC and the second physical locationof the voice coil.